The present invention generally relates to systems with voice coil motors and, more particularly, to controlling velocity of a transducer using back-EMF measurements of an actuator motor.
Computer disk drives store information on disks or platters. Typically, the information is stored on each disk in concentric tracks. The data tracks are usually divided into sectors. Information is written to and read from a storage surface(s) of a disk by a transducer. The transducer may include a read element separate from a write element, or the read and write elements may be integrated into a single read/write element. The transducer is mounted on an actuator arm capable of moving the transducer radially over the disk. Accordingly, the movement of the actuator arm allows the transducer to access different data tracks.
The disk is rotated by a spindle motor at a high speed, allowing the transducer to access different sectors within each track on the disk. The actuator arm is coupled to a motor or coarse actuator, such as a voice coil motor (VCM), to move the actuator arm such that the transducer moves radially over the disk. Operation of the actuator is controlled by a servo control system. The servo control system generally performs two distinct functions: seek control and track following. The seek control function includes controllably moving the actuator arm such that the transducer is moved from an initial position to a target track position.
In general, the seek function is initiated when a host computer associated with the disk drive issues a command to read data from or write data to a target track on the disk. Once the transducer has been moved sufficiently close to the target track by the seek function of the control system, the track following function of the servo control system is activated to center and maintain the transducer on the target track until the desired data transfers are completed.
The transducer rides above the surface of the disk on an air bearing generated by the rotational motion of the disk. It is not desirable for the transducer to contact the disk surface, as such contact can damage the transducer and/or result in loss of data on the disk. Accordingly, when the disk drive is not being used to read/write data to/from the disk, it is desirable to “park” the transducer, i.e., move the transducer to a location so that it is not over a track that is used to store data. In some disk drives, the head is parked by causing the actuator arm to traverse a ramp, which pushes the transducer away from the surface of the disk. This process is referred to herein as a disk ramp unload process. When the actuator arm reaches the top of the ramp, the arm is latched into a storage position, so that the transducer will not collide with the disk surface if the disk drive is bumped or vibrated.
In order to read/write data to/from the disk, the transducer is unparked by releasing the actuator arm from the latch. A current signal to the voice coil motor causes the actuator arm to move down the ramp towards the disk, in a process referred to herein as a disk ramp load process. When the transducer reaches the end of the ramp, it is desirable for the transducer to be moving with the correct speed in order to maintain the transducer in proximity to the disk surface without causing a collision between the transducer and the disk surface. Therefore, it is desirable to monitor and control the speed of the transducer as it approaches the end of the ramp.